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| "Neutron Tide" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Arthur C. Clarke | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction |
| Publication | |
| Published in | Galaxy Science Fiction |
| Publication date | May, 1970 |
"Neutron Tide" is a short story by British writer Arthur C. Clarke, first published in 1970 in Galaxy Science Fiction. It is among his shortest pieces of writing, consisting solely of a 2-page, detailed description of a futuristic scenario in order to use a pun as a punch-line, a play on the title of "The Star-Spangled Banner", the United States' national anthem. The story was reprinted later in the 1978 Starlord summer special.
Plot summary
Clarke describes a space battleship flying too close to the gravitational field of a neutron star, and it subsequently being torn to bits by the high tidal forces. A military commander revealing this in a meeting says the only identifiable piece of debris was from an engineer's toolkit, a star-mangled spanner.
See also
- Neutron stars in fiction
- Feghoot – A short story designed to end with a pun
References
- "Neutron Tide". isfdb.org; Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Al von Ruff and the ISFDB team.
External links
- Neutron Tide title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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